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Last week, there was a hearing in the Senate that brought about some shocking revelations.  It all has to do with the financial dealings with the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), and their commanding personnel.  Many people talk about corruption in the Philippines, and the testimony that came out put a little light on one area of corruption.

It all started late last week, Thursday if I correctly recall it, when the Senate was holding a hearing regarding a plea agreement for Retired AFP General Carlos Garcia.  Garcia had been charged with crimes for allegedly accepting or stealing a lot of money from the AFP budget.  However, Garcia cut a plea bargain with the Ombudsman’s office which allowed Garcia to return a small amount of the money in return for a guilty plea, and would not have to serve jail time.  When news of the plea agreement came out, a lot of people were up in arms over the “sweetheart deal” that was given to Garcia.  The Senate decided to hold hearings on the plea bargain to find out just why such a deal was given.

During the Senate hearings, retired Colonel George Rabusa let loose of allegations of a very corrupt system that is working inside the AFP.  In fact, Rabusa’s testimony implicated a number of other people in wrongdoing, and has turned loose a number of new investigations into what is going on inside the AFP.

Basically, Rabusa said that there is a special budget that is given to the AFP Chief of Staff (the Chief of Staff is a position similar to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the USA).  As part of this special, secret budget, the Chief of Staff allegedly gets personal allowance of P5M per month (in addition to his regular salary).  He can spend the money on anything he wants.  Additionally, the Chief of Staff’s wife and children also get money which they can use as they wish.  The next kicker is that at the end of his term, when the Chief of Staff retires, he gets to keep any money that is left over in the fund.  This money is his “pabaon” or “send off money” when he retires, allegedly.  In addition to his retirement pension, he gets the left over money.  According to Rabusa, retired General Angelo Reyes, who was Chief of Staff in the early part of the 2000’s received a send off of “at least P50M” and possibly more. So, between his P5M monthly allowance and his send off money, Reyes allegedly received over P100M in addition to his Chief of Staff Salary and his retirement benefits!

When Rabusa alleged that Reyes got P50M in send off money, he said that they piled up the cash on Reyes’ desk and that it was a huge pile of money, too much to carry (imagine, that is 50,000 pieces of P1,000 bills!).  Because of the amount of money, Rabusa suggested to his boss and to Gen. Reyes that they convert the money into US Dollars so that it would be easier to transport, after all that would be only about US$1,000,000, which I suppose could fit into a briefcase.  Upon Rabusa saying this, a Senator immediately asked both General Reyes and Rabusa’s boss if this was true, did the General receive P50M upon his retirement.  Both men had the same response – “I don’t recall if that happened or not.”  Oh, come on!  I know that if somebody gave me P50M, even if it was 50 years ago, I would surely remember it!  To me, that response really confirmed the charges.

Since the time that these allegations surfaced, a lot more has come out, mostly confirming the veracity of the story.  Even another retired Chief of Staff who remained unnamed confirmed that things are done that way, although he basically said that he saw nothing wrong with it.  Today, a government auditor testified that she saw such anomalies when she audited AFP accounts in the past.

This has all reminded me of a time several years ago when there was a case known as the “Euro Generals”.  A big thing came up where a number of Philippine Generals had traveled to Moscow for official business.  When they were coming home to the Philippines they were stopped at the airport in Moscow and were found to be carrying huge amounts of cash.  As I recall they had more than 100,000 Euros in cash on them, which is not legal to travel across borders with.  The money was confiscated from the Generals (and even the spouse of one General who was traveling with him), and the Generals were released to return to the Philippines.  There was a huge uproar in the Philippines – where did the Generals get this money?  Why are they traveling with such cash?  There were Senate hearings and such, but after a while, as far as I know, the entire thing was forgotten, and nothing happened.

What is going on in the AFP?  Where are they getting all of this cash from?  How far up is there general knowledge of this (pun intended)?  Will anything be done this time around?  The answers are all up in the air.  Do you think the charges are honest, or just something made up?

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Comments

  2. Bob..maybe that is why the have’s have and the have nots do not have? Corruption seems to be world wide..but has it not been like that since the cave men were around?

  3. Bob;
    In the states it’s known s a Golden Parachute, I guess here, it would be called a Diamond Parachute. And yet they can’t afford to pay a living wage to the rank and file Military or Policeman.
    Corruption; they say no, it’s just S.O.P!

    • Hi Paul – This one may be a titanium parachute! You are so right, many of the rank and file barely have food to eat or bullets for their guns. The staff officers seem to have it made in the shade, though.

      • Hi Bob and Paul,

        Titanium parachute? The $1,000,000 USD payout is like a lollipop to Wallstreet bonuses and CEO’s Golden Parachures here. It hits the news occasionly and people get mad but nothing changes with the behavior.

  4. Bob,
    I understand that some of the cash is United Nations payments for the Philippines contribution to the East Timor peace keeping force – the soldiers payments were reduced to less than half of what the UN was paying.I understand that considerably over 1billion pesos was paid to the Philippine government by the UN for this operation. This is theft on a massive scale but do not hold your breath waiting for someone to be held accountable.I also heard that large amounts of documents relating to military accounts were burned some time ago.I picked up this info on the web several days ago but I cannot recall where it is. Sugar posted an article a few days ago about Philippine patriotism – staff officers stealing millions from funds intended to pay soldiers just about sums it up. There was also evidence given that the numbers of military personnel have been inflated and the additional salaries purloined by senior officers. It just seems to get worse and more blatant as time goes on. The really strange thing here is that the police force seem to have no inclination to investigate these kind of crimes – anywhere else senior policemen would be getting fired for dereliction of duty.Politicians should not be investigating criminal activity – that should be the job of the police force. The present President came into office with a lot of promises about corruption but I think he is his mothers son -honest but incompetent so I do not really expect any action on this matter. This is a sad reflection of Philippine society, it would make you weep.

    • Hi Bryan – Yes, the UN angle came out after I had already written the article. It will be interesting to see if the UN becomes involved in the investigation, don’t you think?

  5. I’m not shocked.

    On another note the WTO has found Boeing has been subsidised for years, something they deny. The report is sealed for 3 months but the reaction from Airbus seems to say the findings went their way and Boeing is in the dog house. I have great confidence in Boeing, but I wonder where this money came from and who it went to.

    My issue is if a foreign company paid money to these Generals or helped in anyway give this guy the 50 million, they should be made to answer and the Generals who took the bribes should be booted out so fast and charged their passports taken away, seriously when does it stop. We all agree corruption is a major issue in the RP but how can the little guy change it ?

    • Hi John – So far, there is no indication that any companies paid into this fund, but it would be interesting to see if anything like that comes from the investigation.

  6. I was thinking that $1,000,000.00 sure would buy a lot of those hungry school kids a lunch. If what Bob said was right a few posts back..then p100 buys 5 lunchs..so that is what near $2.00 usa…so…if $2.00 buys near 5 lunchs..then that mean each lunch is what close to $0.40 cents each….so…that $1,000,000.oo would buy near 2 Million..500 Thousand lunchs…….It makes you wonder if those greedy upper haves have any kind of care at all for their people…..There sure are a lot of gready people in this world……..

  7. I guess I should be suprised and offended. Sadly I am not as its normal stuff. I am sure it happens here among our leadership through political action committees, etc…. What does anger me is if this is U.N. money then its most likely U.S Tax Payer money as the U.S. pays the most into the U.N.. Not fair and insulting. Then leaders wonder why the mass of people revolt.

  8. ….does’nt this guy work for one of the major Wall st. banks afterhours???? Maybe you can ask him when u see him in church on Sunday! Shocked I’m not.

  9. The thing that is so shocking to me is the fact that so many white collar crimes commited here with a trail of evidence even a blind person could follow almost always leads nowhere in terms of a conviction. You would think that if there was one singular thing that would lead to a massie revolt by the people of the Philippines against the corruption that dominates this country it would be things like this but alas no. Really sad for those that love this country and see no light at the end of the tunnel. I even get the feeling that in time even the culprits in the magindanao massacre would find a way to freedom. My question is why is this allowed to happen. Is it the people are too forgiving. I don’t know but these types of occurences certainly can effect all our quality of lives here in the Philippines. Sad no!

      • …and Erap was allowed to run for office again and actually got a lot of votes. My question is, who voted for him and why?.

          • Let’s even go back further, the Marcoses are all well and thriving in politics (especially Imelda). I think we are the only country in the world where a politician can run even he is in jail or convicted of a crime (e.g. Jalosjos), but a Filipino citizen with no criminal records but has little amount of money to fund his campaign would mostly be branded as “nuisance candidate”..so funny..sigh.

        • It’s all about the numbers…there are solid Erap fans, then FPJ fans are for Erap.

          Philippine politics has become entertainment… a solid “fansclub” exist.

  10. Hi Bob,
    Unbelievable,why not pay them a decent wage for the job in the first place,then there would be no need for a “fund”.
    regards,Chas.

  11. When the investigating Senator asked Gen. Reyes if it was true that he took P50M for his “pabaon” money, I get the impression that the Senate had no clue where all these huge sums of money were coming from. They should be the first to know, because, afterall, the appropriations committes of both houses of the Philippine Congress are the ones who legislate and vote on the bill that would pay the Chief of Stafff’s special budget, personal allowance, salary, and retirement benefits. On top of that, his wife and his kids get their allowances, too. THAT is obscene. One has to ask why that much? Well, the bill that just passed both houses of Congres doesn’t become law until after the President signs it. The Chief of Staff to whom all the moneys will be paid in accordance with the law has total authority and control of the AFP, as we all know. The AFP is charged with defending the Constitution. It also swears allegiance to its Commander-in-Chief, the President. With a country as volatile as the Philippines, is it beyond the realm of possibility that the President could be paying “grease money” of the highest order to his/her Chief of Staff to ensure his loyalty in the event of a coup or people’s power? With the Office of the Presidency at stake during an upheaval, the millions of pesos paid the Chief of Staff is probably just about right. Just a wild speculation from this side of the ocean, folks!

      • Bob

        The bottom line until someone gets the guts to confront corruption head on instead of just talking the talk, it will be status quo. I just can’t comprehend how someone can just lie about not remembering it. I’m sure you will be seeing some violence associated with this, but who said eliminating corruption was pretty and going to be easy. Sacrifice has to be done for the future of the Philippines and its people. Good Job Bob!

        • Hi Randy – There are people making confrontations, problem is, not enough of them. After the accused is confronted, the whole thing is generally swept under the carpet not to be seen again.

        • Randy – over the years I have come to the conclusion that large sums of money in the Philippines frequently cause severe health problems – namely selective loss of memory and temporary blindness.

  13. Some of the postings in the comments section of some of the Philippine newspapers from soldiers saying they barely have enough salary to feed their family, sometimes they can’t afford to buy shoes and uniform-going to combat wearing flip-flops, and some higher ups are selling ammos and rifle to enemies, when one young soldier ask his officer to complain to the chain of command, he was told he can complain when he becomes an officer. It’s a shame–I don’t if they are grooming the proper leadership.

    • Hi Mars – It really is true, the rank and file soldiers live in poverty, sometimes with little or no food, no bullets and such. It’s a real shame.

    • If you remember the debacle in Lamitan back in the Erap’s great offensive against MILF and the Abu Sayaff in 2000, there were some rumors about the leadership in the Philippine military purportedly colluding with the Abu Sayaff. Case in point: The Abus were purportedly cornered in a church yard, but amazingly, the Philippine Marine unit that was chasing them was ordered to regroup, thereby allowing the Abus to slip away. Any truth to a possible collusion between the AFP and the MILF and the ASG – perhaps to prolong the war in order to receive more military aid from the U.S.?

      • Hi Ricardo – I have been to the hospital in Lamitan where the ASG was holed up against the AFP. That battle was not part of Erap’s great offensive against the MILF. That battle was part of a rescue attempt for the Burnham hostages, and it was under the Arroyo administration.

        • You’re absolutely correct, Bob. I just checked it. The so-called “Lamitan debacle” where the ASG was allowed to slip away occured on June 2, 2001, a few months after Gloria was inaugurated. Incidentally, you were hospitalized just a year after your arrival in the country? I supposed that was the stroke that you mentioned on here?

          Chronology aside, Lamitan may have demonstrated without a doubt that there was, or is, a collusion between the AFP and the MILF, as Bryan G expanded below.

          • Hi Ricardo – Ha ha.. I was not hospitalized in Lamitan.. I said I’ve been to the hospital, but not as a patient. I have a deep interest in the history and events that happen in Mindanao, and I visited Basilan Province as a tourist, and the hospital was one of the placed I went and checked out.

            The collusion that happened at Lamitan was not between the AFP and MILF, but the AFP and Abu Sayyaf Group. 😀

            • It sure didn’t take you long after your arrival in Mindanao to start exploring the region. You were a very brave man to have done so, especially around the time when the Burnhams were kidnapped and the American Embassy was issuing all kinds of travel restrictions to the region? Didn’t that faze you a bit, especially that you were a white foreigner, Bob?

              Even I would not venture into the region. I remember during a visit to Manila in 1993, my wife, who is Palestinian Muslim, and I went on an all-day sightseeing trip of the city. Around midnight, we decided to conclude our sightseeing by taking a calesa back to the the main drag to catch a jeepney to Sta. Mesa. It was around Quiapo when we saw this Muslim enclave. Emboldened by the knowledge that my wife was Muslim, I asked the calesa driver to let us off at the gate. We were ushered inside by the guard at the gate. Not before long we were surrounded by male Muslims who looked menacing, totally unfriendly looking. We made small talk, introduced myself and stressed to them that my wife was Palestinian Muslim. Their face lit up immediately and started asking questions about Palestine, and how and where I met my wife. In the end, we gave them a couple of hundred pesos as a donation to their mosque. My heart was still beating loudly as we walked back to the waiting calesa!

              • Oh, some of them had good knowledge of Arabic and carried on the conversation with my wife in Arabic…

              • Hi Ricardo – The shootout in Lamitan occurred in 2001. I visited Lamitan and the rest of Basilan in 2007, so it was 7 years after my arrival to live in the Philippines. Was I apprehensive to visit? Not really. I have visited every Province in Mindanao now, except for 2: Camiguin and Sulu. I will visit both, because it is important to me to see all of Mindanao. I own Mindanao.com and publish a lot of info about Mindanao, and it will give me more credibility if I can say “I’ve been there” to every inquiry I get. I am almost at that point now. When I visit areas that many would consider dangerous, I make sure I have trusted contacts there, some of whom might surprise you if I named them.

                I’ve been around Quiapo too, BTW! 😆 I have lots of Muslim friends, and I do not fear Muslims. Are there bad Muslims? Sure there are. There are also bad Catholics and Protestants as well. I even have friends in some Muslim organizations in Mindanao that would probably shock you… I’ll leave it at that. 😉

      • Ricardo,
        Of course there is collusion – boxes of ammunition allocated to the armed forces were found in quantity after a raid and capture of a rebel supply base in Mindanao.The boxes would have had identifying serial numbers so the origin could be traced but as always nothing was done. The collusion is obvious in the case of the foreigners kidnapped in Malaysia and brought to Philippine territory for ransom – the military were always closing in on the kidnappers and hostages while media personnel could walk into the jungle and interview both of the groups.Colonel Gaddaffi of Libya paid the ransom – many millions of dollars. The government negotiator was alleged to have negotiated himself a proportion of the ransom for himself!
        I think it was yourself that questioned me stating that justice was just another commodity that was bought and sold in the Philippines – watch as this case unfolds and the further exposures of huge sums stolen and names are made public then in 6 months or so see if there are any charges or indictments made, then tell me that I was wrong.I dearly hope I am wrong as it would give me some encouragement to hope that things are changing but sadly I doubt it. Some corporal or sergeant in the accounts department could be charged with falsifying the books but sadly that is about as far as it will go

        • ‘I think it was yourself that questioned me stating that justice was just another commodity that was bought and sold in the Philippines…”

          I saw that passage as well, Bryan, but it didn’t come from me. I think it was written by another Filipino poster…

            • No problem, Bryan. Your being in Davao at present reminds me that I have to visit that city the next tive I travel to the Philippines. I hear a lot of good things about it…

  14. Not surprise, not even the amount of money. Sad? Of course it is! As long as the common people don’t care then this will continue to happen. The fish always stinks at the head first but only because the body is dead.

    73,
    Gary

  16. Bob,

    The Euro Generals were mostly members of the PNP and after an investigation the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges against twelve former and active ranking PNP officials last year and it’s buried in the news now. Guess who is the head of the Ombudsman? Merceditas Gutierrez, a staunch GMA ally where the incident occured under her watch. I saw her on the news yesterday at the Senate investigation committee where it seems to me she said that there’s no case against Garcia because the prosecutors don’t have enough hard evidence against him that’s why the government opted for a lesser deal with him. Another whitewash? Hmmm….

  17. At the end of the day, the lack of accountability of our Public Servants in regards to corruption and theft of the country’s resources will lead to underhanded deals and shady tranansactions. The Indoneasions are the best at it, the Italians have built a reputation on it, the Greeks have made a culture out of it and the Philippinos have been refining it and from what I see the Egytians have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar as well. Basically the common thought amongst the people of those nations is ; what can the nation do for ME rather than what can I do for the nation.
    The end result is, money doesn’t go to where it supposed to go and that is to the people.
    It is simply bad management of the county’s resources which makes it a laughing stock and surely damages the country’s reputation.
    Well I hope General Angelo can do some good deeds and spread the goodwill from his windfall.

    • I will not trust Angelo Reyes on that.

      Politicians in the Philippines, as I have observed in the recent years, knows how to play with people’s emotion. They’re very good at it and sadly, the people can’t see the mirage. What I mean is, here is some politician who says he will reveal all corruption another politicians, and the public gets angry and these people get sympathy and when things favor them, they go back to their old corrupt ways

      Politicis beat “showbiz” personalities in using that “exposure” tactic. 😀

  18. I know the feelings of many here, and I’m with you. But we can’t just get out there and start a new revolution. What will happen next if there’ll be new government? Aren’t we just creating more troubles than good if we do this? Is starting a new government again that easy? Maybe it’s better to let our democratically elected officials to take care of this problem. Maybe we don’t need AGAIN to resort to extra-legal thing to resolve it. And besides if we do such things and succeeded in doing so, maybe there’s still be some that would say, ‘You know what I don’t know what’s with Filipinos they always change govt. when they don’t like it’. It’s true something is definitely wrong here, and those guilty of the crime should be punish, but there are set of rules of law to follow to get justice done. It may be slow but we have to the follow it. There are some that would say people are complacent. But there are people there risking their lives, career and livelihood to expose these anomalies. Do we think we would know this anomalies if it not for those who brings this to light? We might not even have this one to talk about if not for those complacent Filipinos. I know most criticism are with good intentions. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings here, I just want to voice some others views. I know most here are truly sympathetic to ordinary people and we all like changes to improve the country. Peace.

    • Hi Louie – Obviously the first EDSA did nothing to move the country forward (maybe it moved backward?). So, you are probably right, a new revolution would probably do nothing.

      Democratically elected officials to take care of the problem? When will they start? 😯

      • Louie – Have you not noticed that it is the democratically elected officials who are the corrupt?Being democratically elected does not have any relevance to honesty – you must have had a very sheltered upbringing – try getting out more.

        • Brian G- You are right there are many corrupt officials, but there are still many who are honest. You have a point, but for me I’m not going to prejudged on this and will wait on what will be the outcome of the investigation. I’m not what you perceived me to be. I hope it’ll be on topic issue and not on personal level.

      • Hi Bob- Yep, I guess at this time it’s better to let those elected officials do their work. “When?” They’re currently investigating the case so there’s hope there’ll be something good that will come out of it.

          • Hi Bob- There’s reason on your apprehension my friend. But as I’m doing this comments, have you heard of the news this morning about reports that former Chief of Staff Gen. Angelo Reyes dies of gunshot wound while visiting his mother’s tomb in Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina? The reports said it wasn’t yet clear whether it’s suicide or somebody shot him. As the investigation in the Senate gets deeper, shocking revelations and incidents happened. I hope soon there will be justice to everyone and for the country to get the better of all this.

            • No apprehension here, my friend. All I know is what I see is that there is nothing happening.

              Yes, I saw the news about Reyes. Seems that the investigation might be getting close to home, di ba?

              • I hope it’ll be different this time my friend, and there’ll be some kind of breakthrough in the investigation for effectuation of justice.

                Oo nga Bob, fresh events seemed leading to the identity of the culprits behind this whole mess. They’re feeling the heat, some forces are maybe doing damage control.

              • The PNP declared the death of Gen.Reyes a suicide and ruled out possible foul play. A parallel investigation will be done by the Department of National Defense after the funeral of Gen Reyes.

    • In general, Filipinos have very myopic view of reforming the government. We indeed got a “better” president when the noisy crowd ousted Erap.

      I think the overused “revolution” is a culprit to it. People love doing something outside the legal system. It becomes a bad habit of the people. No wonder the Philippines for long had been in a viscous cycle

  19. Hi Ricardo Sumilang- I’m not talking of a particular president, but you’re right it could be possible. But there’s a scenario that has greater possibility. If a president wants to ensure his/her continues stay in power, he could just let his chief of staff to let illegal number games (hweteng) to continue operations and all other illegal activities for that matter and let his chief of staff collect all the grease money from illegal game operators. Just like during Estrada’s term, wherein Gov. Singson accused Pres. Erap and other top govt. officials of getting payola from this illegal hweteng.

    • LOL! The Chief of Staff knowingly approving illegal hweting and collecting illegal proceeds from it, Louie? Interesting. However, as you probably know the Philippine political and social landscape in Pinas better than I do (I’ve been away for decades), “grease money” for the Chief of Staff that was legislated and voted into law has a better chance of living a longer life relatively undisturbed because it’s legal, than living on dirty money, don’t you think.

      Sooner or later, that Chief of Staff collecting illegal hweteng money is going to be exposed by some aggrieved party, like what Singson did to Erap. But the more I think about what I said earlier about the “grease money” paid to a Chief of Staff to ensure his complete loyalty to the President, the more plausible it becomes in my mind. Do you think that the standard sum paid to Chiefs of Staff, in this case, GMA’ Chief of Staff, Gen. Narciso Abaya, may have played a role in GMA surviving an attempted coup, or rumors of a coup by disgruntled officers, back in 2003?

      Here’s an excerpt in one of the news about that particular rumor of a possible coup:

      “We call on the public to remain calm amid these rumors of destabilization,” the President said in a statement. “The (Armed Forces of the Philippines) CHIEF OF STAFF is on top of the situation and there is no cause for alarm.” (Bold is mine for emphasis)

      What do you think?

      • LOL! I think a legislated “grease money” would not be possible here. The CBCP won’t allow it, and the people of course. We have no way of knowing if Gen. Narciso Abaya received a bribe from the president during his term. I was just mentioning my own version of “wild speculation” based on what had happened during Pres. Erap’s term. That being said, your supposition is possible considering corruption in the military is rampant as we see in the expos’e of witnesses in the Senate inquiry into this case.

        • Louie, the term, “grease money”, which I used in the context of current conversation is not the literal meaning of the word to imply bribe, which, of course, will never be legislated as you have correctly pointed out.

          Grease money is my own euphemism for the ridiculously large sums of money paid the Chief of Staff which constitute his special secret budget, personal allowance, salary, retirement benefits, and allowances for his wife and kids, which of course is legislated, voted on, and signed by the President.

          As far as ensuring the Chief of Staff’s complete loyalty to the President in the event of a revolution, the said “grease money” paid him is no guarantee that he will remain loyal. As to whether or not Narciso Abaya was instrumental in keeping GMA in power because of the said “grease money” is purely conjecture with a bit of humor on my part.

  21. maayo man bob ….barry said how are you? maayo unta maka bisita mo ni feyma diri sa camiguin ingon si barry. you are getting good in your bisaya language.pero mas mas maayo moari mo diri ug summer kay karon bulana nag sige ug ulan diri .give my regards to feyma and the kids.tc and GODSPEED

  22. Hello Bob.
    As a view readers here already wrote. It is all the same. Why shut the police look to deeply in these cases? You don’t think they doing the same thing in there department? There are a lot of stories around the world were normal people as you and myself thinking:”What the hack….?” It is clear for everybody but for the upper class it is “normal” to do so. Example? In Germany a worker must work 45 years to get his full pension for retirement. A member of the Parlament get the full Pension of his last income after 4 years membership. That’s the law. So what? A Filipino General takes all the money at the end or a ex-member of the German Parlament takes it monthly and is maybe only 32 years old. Add around 10,000 Euro per month for a year multiply it with years to live and we got more than 1,000,000 Euro until he died. And don’t think about that a German retired worker gets 10,000 Euro after 45 years of hard work. No way, man! So all the upper class guy’s have known it 100 of years how the get more and hold the people poor. That’s known. Only the “how to get it” is different.

    Best regards

    • Holger…same here in the USA..a Senator…works or pretends to work…6 years and gets their retirement plus all the bennies that go with it for life and for rest of their family tooo…same goes for the Congressmen…but they do not have to work as long…..us common people we work maybe 45-50 years if we start young and then we get some of the SS that probably will not last to long…My Point is all nations from the smallest to the biggest are corrupt…

    • Holger. there is a world of difference in your MP receiving what you would consider to be excessive salaries and benefits and a Filipino General stealing government and UN funds which were allocated as payments for government projects. One may be unjustified but is legal – the other is theft – pure and simple.If you cannot get your head round the ethics of the two things you have a severe problem

  23. Bob, I am refraining from commenting extensively about this topic, as I know bits and pieces of both the cases you have mentioned on account of my work.

    Although all I can say is that corruption in some agencies in government here is “systemic.” Meaning it is already deeply rooted and most of the time, it just looks like a division of spoils. What makes the “pot” money big is the number of people digging into the pot. The more people are involved in the various transactions, the higher the “pot” gets.

    I for one have a personal opinion on why corruption is so rampant. I don’t know if anyone here would agree with me, but it is backed up by research that it is “partly” cultural. The “tradition” of gift-giving has been blown out of proportion that it now becomes part of grease money. Or sometimes it confuses both the receiver and giver as to the extent of what is “acceptable gift giving” because it is part of tradition to give gifts. I think it is safer to not accept even the smallest of gifts, but sometimes the giver gets offended if you don’t accept small tokens.

    At any rate, corruption is so difficult to expound/explain in one sitting. But it will take political will to change it in the most corrupt of agencies.

    • Claudette in the USA we call that…what you call grease money…we call it this…If you scratch my back then I will scratch yours…or I will do you a favor if you do me a favor or if I do you a favor, they you owe me a favor back. This is the kind of courruption that takes place here in the USA and starts from your City Goverment..to County Goverment..to State Goverment and then Federal Goverment. This includes the schools and any thing that as to do with any branch of the goverment.It can involve money or many other things..but to me any thing that is not done on the up and up is dishonest and corruption..The above also take palce in the private sector also…business and etc.

      • In the USA, the most serious offenders of what they call in the Philipines as “grease money” are government lobbyists. In the days before the ethics law was implemented by Congress, lobbyists would wine and dine the target congressman in order to influence that particular legislator’s vote on a particular legislation that would benefit the lobbyist’s client.

        Lobbyists routinely give gifts of cash stuffed in envelopes, tickets to sporting events, expense- free vacations, in addition, of course, to the regular wining and dining, to the crooked politician. A number of unscrupulous legislators were caught in this scheme and served time in jail for what they would later call as “lapse of judgment”, perhaps as a way of showing the judge remorse, designed primarily to stave off a harsher sentence. Congressman Dan Rostenskowski of Chicago was found guilty and went to jail for such shenanigans. Another, whose name escapes me, a Congressman from Ohio, whose favorite expression on the House floor was, “Beam me up, Scotty” (Paul Keating, Ohio native, out there in Pasuquin would probably remember his name), was a well-known figure at the Taverna Greek Restaurant, a favorite watering hole on Capitol Hill, where almost nightly he appears with a lobbyist in tow, and would order double orders of the house special and expensive bottles of wine for him and his Chief of Staff – all paid for by the lobbyist and the lobbyist’s boss. He, too, spent some time in jail, but is now out.

        There were many more legislators who were found guilty of ethics violations and sent to jail. It has gotten so bad that Congress finally implemented the ethics law. The law limits the dollar amount of gift a legislator may receive from lobbyists and other interest groups. They are also required to report it. The entire federal government, in fact, is subject to government ethics standards. It is applied to all government employees, from the mail clerk up to the Director of the agency. No one in federal government may receive any gift, period, from anyone in the course of their official duties. Materials gifts from foreign government made to government higher officials may not exceed a certain amount; gifts exceeding the set amount are turned in to the government.

        Claudette, does the Philippine government have a law remotely resembling the Ethics law of the U.S. government? If they don’t, I think it’s high time that they do. I believe, thought, that even if they did, the law will not be enforced. Either that or the crooks will find an ingenious way to circumvent it, basically rendering the law into a meaningless scrap of paper.

        • Yes, the Philippines has an ethics law… -Republic Act No. 6713 speaks against receiving gifts except those what the law terms as gifts of nominal value given during occasions of celebration like birthdays and the like.

          Also there are criminal laws on bribery and a whole myriad of provisions on possible criminal offenses of public officials and employees. But in my over eight years of practice in administrative law, what I can say about the law is that it is just used by one disgruntled public official/employee against another. It is often used just as a form of vendetta.

          In government agencies that are systemically corrupt, you can hardly expect subordinate employees to squeal on their bosses because as I said, sometimes the piece of the pie goes as low as the lowliest employee. On the other hand, the only private sector who is aware of the corruption in government is the business sector themselves who provide the “grease” money to expedite their business transactions. Can you expect them to squeal when under the law they too can be held liable in a crime of bribery?

          • LOL! That’s him, Randy, the irreverent, flamboyant, combative Congressman Trafficante, whose favorite opening statement on the House floor was, “Beam me up, Scotty”! His constituents loved him, though. The Taverna Greek restaurant on Capitol Hill, a favorite hang out of congressional staffers after work, is now closed. He was a fixture at that place. Almost every night, he walks in with lobbyists credit card at the ready, cowboy boots, wig and all, and backslaps everyone sitting at the bar. What a character!

    • Claudette – A very good analysis of what is happening -it is a pity that a solution is not as clear.

    • I agree with you Claudette that corruption is deeply rooted in our culture in part and that “grease money” needs to be divided. I remember what my wife told me when she was working in the HQ, as a reply to my question why on earth all their medical equipments in the laboratory are obsolete, and she told me there was no budget for it? One time, they bought a PC (not high end but of the lowest type) and it costed them triple the actual amount in the market. I asked her wth? She said, it’s because so many personnel in the higher ups have to “sign” the P.O. before it’s final release and the higher the ranking of that personnel, the higher the costs of the item will be. So sad…

  24. The problem is not the lack of laws in the Philippines – there are unexplained wealth laws applicable to cases like this but nobody will ask the simple question – where did you get this money? Look at the enquiry- all the questioning is on the basis of where it did not come from – not one questioner has asked Garcia outright where he or his wife acquired the millions.His wife and son were jailed in the USA for money laundering – bringing in undeclared suitcases of cash from the Philippines – not a question about that of course.It is obvious the way this is going – the ombudsman – in this case a lady has now stated that there is not enough evidence to be sure of a conviction – how much do they need?
    Lack of laws is not the problem – enforcement of the laws is.

    • It is indeed. And it seems that the Philippines has a culture of doing this outside the law be it expediting contracts or removing the president.

      Sad state…and the scary thing about this is that it would likely take a longtime to get rid of this political culture

  25. and yet, the prosecution in Garcia’s case still say that the evidence is still weak. I’m no lawyer, but with high ranking reputable witnesses, suspect’s own incriminating testimony, US customs evidence etc…..sheesh.

    Then again, this is just another weekday in the life of the country.

  26. Hi Bob: This latest revelation of theft of public funds, and all the little side shows that go with it, is just another emphasis how the abuse of power, and malfeasance of public trust is, where ever great sums of money are concerned. Politics is a dirty business!

    • Roberto, I’ll repeat this post: Difference between corrupt Politician and a mudfish (Snakehead) ?-one is a low life, scum sucking, bottom dweller creature, the other one is a fish. Is “Corrupt Politician” an oxymoron?

    • Hi Roberto – Since I wrote the article there have been a lot more revelations that have come out, I am sure readers have seen the news. Very sad for the Philippines. Will anything be done, though? I doubt it.

  27. Bob and Mars Z: Theres an old saying, “what is the difference between a politician and a prostitute”? The politican makes more money.

  28. What is their monthly salary?

    Based on what I’ve seen published for others, it is next to nothing. Not just for the rank and file but in the upper reaches of the government and the military.

    Low salaries, total privacy in banking is a recipe for corruption.

    I kind of doubt much will come of it other than political grandstanding. Mostly because of my previous sentence. Fixing the situation might greatly reduce the income of those that make the laws.

    But, the Philippines government is about 40 years old? I think the USA had a few issues like this at 40 too. 🙂

    Right now, I’d be happy if they could just keep the freaking lights on.

    • Hi Rusty – I don’t know exactly what their salary is, and I expect that you are correct, it is too low. That, however, does not justify them stealing millions from the people they are supposed to be serving.

  29. @Bryan G:
    Sorry, sir. The Taxpayers really don’t care how the money “gets out” of the pocket. “Front- or back door” – stolen or (as we say in Germany) “stolen by law”. The big players in every Government know exactly how to do it. If not, they call an older buddy from the department and he can be sure he gets a “how-to-do-it-lesson”! The point is – it is NOT new to the public. We hat some big scandals in Germany before I left there. Politicians took cars or airplanes for “private-use-only” (example: One minister-lady took a Mercedes limousine incl. the driver for her vacation in south Spain. One minister took a whole airplane for a vacation trip.) Vehicles there are strictly for ON DUTY only! To be payed from the tax money. Big investigation. Also to be payed from the taxpayers money. That was the point that it came out, that a ex-member of parlament, 32 years old was also on this plane. “Ohhh. No. I am retired. I got invited.” I am sure that in the Philippines the “big guys” known it too. Maybe they got there training from the Germans? 😉
    The big points I am pointing on Bryan. The investigations always ending in “not enough evidence”!! I am sure that some Filipinos in the Government already thinking on “how-to-make-it-legal” like in Germany! Than we looking at Filipinos, people like you and me. They thinking: “So the big guys doing it, why not I am too?”, because it is “normal”.
    So in the end the big guys getting out free. But why? It is clearly “stolen” from the people. You know it. I know it. Everybody else knows it.

    And for the future. We have a saying in Germany. “Sure you can give politicians a hand shake. But before you do that, take your rings and wristwatches off or they maybe gone!” 🙂

  30. Bob,

    I supposed all of us readers have heard of the news that retired General and ex-AFP Chief Angelo Reyes commited suicide. If I’m not mistaken, this is a first for corrupt or alleged corrupt officials or ex-officials in Philippine politics in recent times. An interesting note, Gen. Garcia was previously convicted by the military court martial for graft but was not expelled by the PMAAA because then President Arroyo did not uphold the decision of the court martial by not “acting” (probably signing?) on it therefore making the decision as “not yet final”. The question is, did she deliberately forgot to “act on it” or did she prefer to “pass-on-the-bucket” to the next Commander-In-Chief to avoid internal political conflict? Hmmm, makes me wonder. Here’s the link to that news:
    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110208-319063/Why-the-mistahs-have-not-expelled-Garcia

  31. I think the accusations are true. Testimony is the funds primarily came from United Nations Peace Keeping reimbursements and military aid from the United States. What is truly sad to me is that I am not convinced the military personnel think they did anything wrong. Corruption has become such a part of Filipino culture that it is seen as something everyone does when conducting their business and personal affairs.

    A good friend in Manila is Vice President of one of the largest Agriculture feed and animal medicine companies in the Philippines. Three or four years ago I was in Manila and I went out to dinner with he and his wife during the dinner he commented he dread going to work the next morning. I ask why and he said I have to fire an employee and he is really a good family man and is doing a great job considering he has only been with us three months.

    I ask why would you fire someone that is a man of good character and doing a good job and really has not had enough time to prove what he can or cannot do. He said, “We have been talking to him about his not being willing to bribe managers of large chicken and pig farms in order to guarantee they will buy our feed and medicine and if they are buying they will stay with us and not go to another supplier. He told us the man claimed it went against his religious beliefs. I told him that was the first time I had heard of anyone being fired for being honest and good. Bill replied, “Father that is just the way business is done in the Philippines and you have to play the game and if you are not willing to do so then we have to let you go.”

    I consider Bill a good man, basically an honest man, a good family man, but he is willing to compromise his values to keep his job and do business. I ask him if he thought what he was doing was morally wrong and he said, “Father, everyone does it and I have to make a better life for my family.”